Archive for
June 11th, 2008
Stories
Blogger witnesses whales beaching in Madagascar
The mass stranding of at least one hundred melon-headed whales were reported in the mangrove of Antsohihy Bay (Northwest region of Madagascar) in the first week of June.
Harinjaka and the non-governmental organization Fanamby were among the first to report (fr) and publish photos (mg) of this ecological disaster.
The causes of the mass stranding are still under investigation as the local population and the ministry were trying to rescue a few surviving whales.
A few hypotheses are being discussed by experts, ranging from fungal or viral infections to the use of low-frequency sonar by the military or off-shore oil-foraging companies.
Fanamby is a Malagasy association that specializes in conservation and development by focusing their effort on developing private initiatives and new technologies.
Harinjaka, besides his work at Fanamby, is also the co-founder of Foko-madagascar and an author at the collaborative news site “The observers by France 24“; he answered a few questions about this sad event (interview was originally conducted in French):
Q: When and how did you learn about the mass stranding ?
Harinjaka: Fanamby was contacted by a tour operator who was visiting the area with tourists on June, 3rd. A few of them took photos of the stranded whales to sensitize other agencies about the urgency of the situation. The mangroves where it occurred are located about 600 km away from the capital city. Accessibility was not really the main problem, technical know-how and manpower were what was needed the most to rescue the surviving whales.
Q: What are the most plausible explanations so far ?
H: It's all hypothetical at the moment but beside an unknown disease, the one fact that was mentioned by most people in the region was that an Exxon-Mobile ship left the port of Antsohihy on June, 3rd. On June 4th, 40 whales were seen stranded and I saw many more the day after. Again, this is all speculative at this point but a national newspaper confirmed the presence of the ship.
Q: You mentioned that the reactions of the locals were bizarre at first:
H: Yes, when the local population saw that outsiders were taking photos of the disaster, they were quite unhappy and they demanded that outsiders take the whales away. They probably figured that outsiders were the reason the whales were stranded there in the first place.
The other odd story was that when experts tried to identify the species, they could not find what species they belong to inside the catalog of known Malagasy marine species. They were later identified as Peponocephala electra or electra dolphins, [Melon-headed whales].
Q: What lessons can be learned from this catastrophe ?
H: The Malagasy population have a special bond with Dolphins. We don't hunt or eat dolphins because our traditions tell stories of dolphins saving fishermen from drowning at seas. I would like to make a plea here: we should consider deploying more resources to enable faster responses to natural disaster such as this one, but also other threats to our biodiversity.
( All photos credits to Harinjaka)
( Note: *Melon-headed whales are also known as Peponocephala electra or electra dolphin. ** accounts from other witnesses are also integrated in the interview)
The myriad voices of Pakistani blogosphere
Pakistan's growing blogosphere presents a kaleidoscope of the complex, contradictory developments within the country. The country is in the grip of a major movement for upholding the rule of law. Some say it is the finest moment in our history while others term it as yet another agent of instability. Thousands of lawyers and political activists have commenced a long march to Islamabad, the Pakistani capital, to pressurize the parliament and the government to restore the judges dismissed by now ubiquitous and beleaguered President Musharraf. We take our great neighbour China's history and Chairman Mao, quite seriously.
Pak Spectator welcomes the long march with these words:
Gallant lawyers from all over the Pakistan have started their Long March towards the Islamabad where a dictator lives who tried to demolish the country's justice system to appease his vested interest to stick to the power forever. These lawyers are upholding the flags of supremacy of law and the upper hand of constitution with full liberty to the judges of higher and lower judiciary.
In a similar vein, cyrilalmeida.com moans the skepticism about the lawyers' long march:
What a wretched country this is. The march should have given goose bumps to every person with an iota of romance. Instead, it has raised the hairs on the back of the neck for the many who fear what confrontation will bring. Not for decades have ugly reality and dreaminess collided so forcefully. The sceptics believe they are on the right side of history. But there is no joy in parting with the lawyers. Unfortunately, there are no Hollywood endings in Pakistan, only bitter truths.
An alternative view, again at Pak Spectator urges that legal matters cannot be brought to the streets:
Court business is conducted in Courts only. Staging of a protest or arranging a Long March on any pretext by a bunch of lawyers out side of the courts, in order to pressurise and influence the Parliament to give a favourable verdict is sure absurdity because; Munsib ka Mut-manni khain hota hey! If at all there is a need to do some March; that is an inward cleansing March; a March toward lower and High courts system; where Justice is a far cry and common man experience; corruption, corruption and corruption of Judges only. Long March; it is more of a Leisure Ride.
Putting the recent stage in the lawyers' movement in a political economy context by arguing that the real agenda of the Long March appears to be frustrating the newly elected government of the slain Bhutto's party. This is what Haq's Musings has to say:
So why are the judges and the lawyers being elevated to such high stature by the “civil society” … and their media and politician cheerleaders? The answer probably lies in their obsessive need for vengeance against Musharraf by the PML(N), the lawyers and the journalists.
It probably goes beyond that. The real agenda appears to be to frustrate the newly elected PPP government and make it impossible for it to deliver on the PPP promises to the people in terms of their basic needs of roti [bread], bijli [electricity] and paani [water]. Such a failure would likely result in the ouster of the PPP, early elections and the “restoration” of the pre-1999 situation with PML(N) government led by Nawaz Sharif.
And where is the march headed to - the Pakistani capital. Islamabad, vilified by the corporate media as a haven of terror and bigotry. Thus a refreshing account of an Indian traveler has been posted at the Pak Tea House:
Islamabad is surely the most well-organised, picturesque and endearing city in all of South Asia. Few Indians would, however, know this, or, if they did, would admit it. After all, the Indian media never highlights anything positive about Pakistan, because for it only ‘bad' news about the country appears to be considered ‘newsworthy'. That realization hit me as a rude shock the moment I stepped out of the plane and entered Islamabad's plush International Airport, easily far more efficient, modern and better maintained than any of its counterparts in India. And right through my week-long stay in the city, I could not help comparing Islamabad favourably with every other South Asian city that I have visited.
This unconventional wisdom is furthered by these lines:
No sooner has the visitor stepped off the plane in Islamabad and drives into the city than he is forced to realize that whatever the Indian media says about Pakistan and its people is basically bogus…
No, Pakistan is not a ‘fundamentalist' country, teetering on the verge of a take-over by ‘religious radicals'. No, Pakistan is not a ‘prison-house of Muslim women', who are allegedly forced into wearing tent-like burkhas. No, Pakistan is not a ‘failed state' that produces nothing. Flowing beards and skull-caps are conspicuous by their rarity in Islamabad as are burkhas. Women drive and shop and work in government and private offices. Most basic consumer items are produced within the country.
Lahore Nama has a post on the contradictions of urban Pakistan and its post-colonial ethos, not unlike the not-so-loved neighbour, India:
Speaking of golf courses, it seems a contradiction to me that Lahore boasts three eighteen-hole golf courses and two full-fledged polo grounds in the middle of the city, while at the same time there is a low-income housing shortage and elite residential housing developments have all picked up the cheap land at the outskirts of the city. As a result, there is precious little land for low-income and middle-class housing. Interestingly, this phenomenon is not unique to Lahore. Delhi has several golf courses and a couple of polo grounds in its bowels. Several other cities that hosted the Raj are similar. Something tells me this may have to do with a sustained post-colonial mentality that prioritises golf and polo over the accommodation of the poor.
The hugely popular blog All Things Pakistan is also celebrating its second birthday with this reflection:
On these pages we've tried to cultivate this community of Pakistaniat as best as we could. But we have also tried to remain true to our name - All Things Pakistan.We have focussed on all things related to Pakistan and stayed away from things that are not directly related to Pakistan. We are not, and do not wish to be, a newspaper or even a new site. But we cannot ignore the unraveling of society and politics and economy in Pakistan. We have had to write on news too often - much more often than we would have wished to write about it - simply because it would have been dishonest to ignore the great news events of our times.
Moving from the local to the global, the eager Teeth Maestro has posted a discussion at Asia Society where the eminent Pakistani author, Ahmed Rashid discusses his new book “Descent Into Chaos: the United States and the Failure of Nation Building in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Central Asia”. This book is about the troubled globe in the context of 9/11 and the subsequent disasters:
Rashid talked about complex geopolitics of the region in the aftermath of 9/11, focusing on Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the United States, sharply criticizing the Bush administration's policies, arguing that after 9/11 the US squandered a tremendous opportunity to engage with the region in a constructive way.
Morocco: Resisting Daylight Savings
The modern concept of Daylight Savings Time was conceived by William Willett in 1905 and was first initiated by Germany in 1916. Most of the world does not participate in Daylight Savings Time, and until recently, Morocco was no exception. This year, however, the Moroccan government decided to re-introduce DST.
Margot the Marrakesh Mystic explains the situation:
By advancing clocks one hour, the government feels the additional daylight will help tourism. Additionally, business and banking times will be more closely aligned with European trading and business partners, particularly France.
Some Moroccans (98.7% Muslim) are now talking about how Daylight Savings Time will extend the hour of the Ramadan breakfast by one hour.
Some feel the time change is a problem for Ramadan, while others feel it’s not a problem at all. In any case, people will be getting up one hour earlier by the sun to go to work, and since Ramadan ends each day with the sunset time, the hours of awake fasting will seem extended by one hour. Ramadan is now beginning to move into the summer season (September this year, August next year), so the change will be noticed.
In the face of soaring fuel prices, Morocco is trying to maintain fuel subsides to the general population, in terms of gasoline and cooking fuel. The time change is partly an effort to save on energy consumption.
North Africa Notes tells us the word on the street:
Every person with whom I have spoken with today and almost every conversation I overheard walking down the street, in the old city, or in the taxi was about the time change. Most of the conversations either started out with ” So - what do you think of this time change thing?” Or you heard people saying, ” So- what time is it now?” Most people just seemed to be in bewilderment as to why exactly we were moving the clock forward. It just seemed to be inconveniencing everyone and throwing off peoples rhythms. Especially with regards to prayer times around which a good number of people here still manage their lives, ALhamdulilah. So now sunset prayer will not be until around 8:35pm at night and the night prayer will begin at around 10:15 pm.
People are already trying to figure out how this is going to effect their fasting in the month of Ramadan which is about 3 months away.( This Daylight Savings is supposed to stay in effect until Sept 27th)
Although the change is country-wide, not all Moroccans are quick to accept the time change. Jenny in Morocco, a Peace Corps volunteer, shares how things are in her neck of the woods:
Twenty years is a long time and I can understand how people might find this change complicated or unnatural. Imagine if you were 25 years old and the last time you experienced Daylight Savings Time, you were five years old. But, excluding young people, you'd think the older folks would remember and try to adopt the time change.
Instead, what's happened here is slightly insane and very very confusing. I call it the “new time” “old time” paradox. Official places like schools, government buildings, the airport, and cities have changed over to the “new time.” Everyone else, including my town, have stayed with the “old time.” Well, everyone except for me and the mayor's office, the post office, and the schools. And the schools are closed now, so I'm pretty sure the kids are functioning on “old time.”
Another member of the Peace Corps, Duncan Goes To Morocco is having a similar experience:
One other thing is that last week, for the first time ever, Morocco moved its clocks forward in a daylight savings sort of thing. The only thing is that no one in my community (and I’m assuming many other rural communities) understands or follows it. The school, health clinic, and government building all follow the new time, but no one else does. They all know that the change has happened, but there’s no reason for them to do it. I changed the clock in my house, hoping to have my family be the trendsetters in the village. But their daily schedule is just like it was before the change – it follows the sun, not the clock. And now, whenever my mom says a time, she says the old time, followed by the word for old. For example, she’ll say, “the transport is coming at seven tomorrow – the old seven.” Then she always laughs because she thinks it’s hilarious I changed the clock.
Yet another PCV, Connie in Morocco, puts it simply:
Morocco went on Daylight Savings Time on June 1. Do you think my village and the surrounding douars (settlements) did?
Saudi Arabia: The Hijab and France
France banned students in its schools from wearing any religious symbols and dress denoting religious affiliations - including the Islamic headscarf or the Hijab for women - in 2004. Saudi woman are now protesting against the ruling - four years later, say bloggers.
Ahmed Al Omran, or Saudi Jeans, discusses his reactions to a newspaper article which interviews a student objecting to the French ruling.
He notes:
When the French government decided to ban all religious symbols in schools few years ago the decision hardly went unnoticed, especially by Muslims as many of them found the rule directly targeting the hijab. While I find this French rule idiotic, I find it equally if not more idiotic what some Saudi female students who got scholarships to France have to say about the implications of this rule on their education.
One of the girls interviewed by the papers calls on Saudi officials to “sort out” the issue with French authorities, to allow Saudi women to have their veil. Saudi Jeans hits back saying:
The only way I see for our “officials” to “sort it out” is this: one of them gets the French citizenship, he wins the presidential elections there, and then he makes the parliament change the law. Pretty straight forward, huh? No offense to Ms. Abdulhadi, but don’t you think you could have spent a few hours learning some general information about France and its laws before you apply for a scholarship there?
Another student went as far as asking the government to stop scholarships to France altogether. Sorry Missy, just because you think French laws contradict what you believe in doesn’t give you the right to deny others the chance to go and pursue a better education in that place as long as it suits their beliefs.
One of the readers, Hala in the USA, isn't happy with Al Omran's tone. She says:
Saudi Jeans, I didn’t like your sarcastic tone, after all, those girls were grown in here, it’s part of a sacred belief to cover up, how did you catch this tone? people can express what they think about laws, laws and policies are changing every now and then with any new and worthy viewpoints, and democracy oblige people to take all opinions into consideration even from foreigners…People can voice their requests in a free world like France as you know!!!
Crossroads Arabia links to the newspaper article and offers the following explanation:
This Arab News story reports that female Saudi students are running into problems with their hijabs in French medical schools. The article—and apparently some of the students—confuses the French law that prohibits wearing of religious symbols in elementary and secondary schools (which ban also includes kippeh or yarmulke and large crosses), with separate rules of medical schools which ban head coverings as unhygienic.
Wearing hijab in French universities is not, as a rule, forbidden. Medical schools, however, have other issues than laïcité in mind. I realize that Saudi medical schools don’t see this as a problem, but the French see it otherwise.
China: Olympic outhouses catch on fire, explode
The 24 Hours Online blogger Laohu ‘Tiger Temple' Miao, who spent months earlier this year blogging the stories of destitute Beijing residents whose makeshift homes were harmonized to make way for the Olympics brings us a post today about a fire yesterday not far from the Olympic Bird Nest which began in portable toilets used by construction workers there and resulted in several small explosions.
该小区与鸟巢仅一街之隔，自四年前鸟巢开始兴建，这里成为民工闲暇时聚集热点。喝酒、聚餐、打话吧、购置日用消费品。热闹了好些个年头。近些日子随鸟巢逐步完工，民工骤然减少，商店也因此已关张了几家，剩下为数不多的也仅在勉强维持，期盼新的好运到来。
此次着火及引发居民意见得从事情原委说起。几个月前，由奥组委掏钱为这个小区沿街一面凡可被外人看到的墙体粘挂铝塑装饰面板。对此，居民反对意见居多且不说——只因该楼属豆腐渣工程却做了个精品脸面——但要指出的是为了不让老外轻松进入小区观察，特将原本小区向西（朝向鸟巢）一面围墙栅栏的两只门道封锁成仅一只可单人出入之口，居民们如今购买东西需要绕路而行。而此次火灾其关键之点恰恰涉及到了因为栅栏的封锁，导致丧失了消防通道，消防车辆赶来后，也只能停留北辰东路，望洋兴叹。为此，居民已是多有意见，并且因为装饰工程设计奇特，思路怪异，遂引来各国记者频频拍照。着实令小区人民很不开心。
To explain residents' views on this fire, you have to look at the whole story. A few months back, the Olympic Organizing Committee put up the money to put up an plastic-plated decorative aluminum wall alongside this neighborhood so that not every laowai who walks by has to see it. Many residents were opposed to this, but didn't say so—only because it was a ‘tofu dregs' construction job that this face was getting put onto—but they did want to point out that in order to keep it from being too easy for laowais to enter and observe, they went out of their way to seal off the two gates on the west side of the neighborhood (facing the Bird Nest), leaving only a single-person entry/exit point which until now leaves residents having to make a detour to go buy things. And the key point in this fire, it's precisely because the gates are sealed, cutting off a fire exit, that when the fire trucks came, they had to stop on Beichen East Road and were left feeling useless. Because of this, residents now have many objections, feeling quite strange about the weird justification for the design of the ornamental project which has now led to journalists from many countries coming to take many photos. It has truly left the community residents very unhappy.
据现场目击者介绍，大火起自那两只移动铁皮厕所内部。由于装饰工程已近尾声，工人业已退场，两只厕所也只为留守人员所用，为防止他人使用，厕门被工人挂锁。因此里面有什么东西可以见火后如雷炸响便成一谜。消防车队的出现是在报警后约20分钟后，故因当前城市交通不畅，堵车在所难免，但时逢奥运在即，恐难有人会原谅如此应变速度。消防队员亦是辛劳，只见他们由那刚刚封锁起来的铁栅栏上端翻进翻出，拖送水龙（见下图），实乃叫人哭笑不得！
此次消防队出车两辆，120急救出车一辆，警车两辆，警用摩托车只见穿梭，不计其数。前后折腾约40分钟，大火将灭。
只因地处敏感地区，大火起时，即有十数老外赶来前后拍照。如此情景，想必令爱国人士看了心痛不已。大火后，人员纷纷撤离，仅剩小区居民依然不去，眼见得刚刚修起的装饰性墙皮被大火熏黑了半边（最末一图），众人话题也只剩下一个——面子工程，实在害人！
Two fire trucks were dispatched for this, one ambulance, two police cars and countess police motorcycles that were only being used to shuttle around. From start to finish they struggled for about 40 minutes, and then the fire was out.
Only because of the sensitivity of the location, when the large fire broke out, dozens of laowais immediately rushed over to take pictures. This kind of scene is presumably painful to watch for patriotic types. After the fire, people slowly began dispersing until only residents remained, looking at the scorched side of the decorative fence so recently installed, leaving the crowd also just one topic: ‘face' projects, turns out they're bad for people!
Colombia: The struggles of Barrancabermeja documentary
This nine part documentary created by Taline Haytayan of her experience as part of the Peace Brigades International organization in the strife ridden Barrancabermeja region of Colombia captured my attention throughout. It follows the Feminine Popular Organization (OFP) group which works together to prevent violence against women and violent conflict in a region where people have been trying to live in the middle of crossfire between two different guerrilla factions, the army and the paramilitary forces. (more…)
Links for Wed, 2008-06
The Armenaker Kamilion comments on the opinion of a senior radical opposition leader in Armenia that renewed fighting with Azerbaijan over Nagorno Karabakh might be one way for the authorities in Yerevan to declare martial law and end opposition protests which are set to start again on 20 June. The blog examines such speculation in light of concerns that the resumption of hostilities might also serve as a proxy war between Russia and the United States for influence in the South Caucasus.
Iraqi blogger Abbas Hawazin comments on a ruling by an Iraqi university which had issued a warning to female students not to dress up provocatively.
Moses Paul writes about media crackdown in Uganda: “Government has set up a special ministerial taskforce in what appears another move by the state to muzzle the media. This is not the first time hardline elements in President Museveni’s government have mooted unconstitutional machinations to clamp down on the independent media.”
The ruling party in Zimbabwe hates satellite dishes!:”The Zimbabwean government has announced the beginning of yet another operation designed to oppress the people of Zimbabwe. Under Operation Dzikisai Madhishi (Operation pull down your satellite dish) the regime is forcing Zimbabweans to pull down their home satellite dishes through which the majority of Zimbabweans have been able to access eTV, SABC, Botswana Television as well some DSTV channels.”
Dr. Ethiopia blogs about Ethiopia's troubled Ogaden region: “Modern Ogaden is a place where its people are being used as target practice for Ethiopians soldiers. A place where journalists are scarce. Journalists, in the past, have been accused of aiding and abetting the enemy (The Ogaden people).”
Bahraini blogger Ali Abdulemam [Ar] has received a letter from jailed fellow blogger Abdulla Mohsen. Mohsen has been in prison since the end of last year - on charges which include “the theft of a weapon and burning a police jeep.”
Matt puts together photos of the June 10 million people candle night vigil against the importation of unsafe U.S beef [zh].
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